Chapter 634 Chapter 634
Journee set the bag in the car. She was calling it a car, but it looked more like a truck, only smaller. She knew nothing about vehicles. She leaned in and looked around. On one hand, she could count the number of times she’d been in a vehicle in the last eighteen years. She looked at her hand and realized she only need three fingers for that math.
“Asher is going to take you to get more clothes once you’re on the road.”
She turned around to see Rayne standing behind her. “I hope he knows how to shop for them because I don’t.”
Rayne smiled at her, and for whatever reason, it made her feel better immediately. “I’m sure you will manage.” She glanced behind her to see Asher coming toward them carrying a smaller tote. She recognized it as one of the medical ones they had packed. “Make sure you get her shoes, Asher,” Rayne nodded, “and boots, winter and rain ones, oh and sandals,” she smiled at Journee, “for when you’re on the boat.”
Asher opened the back of the car and put the tote in. He shifted around a few of the other ones and then closed it. “She can get what she needs.”
Rayne nodded and then held out the bag she’d carried over. “A few things I know you need now.” She smiled.
Journee took the bag and looked in it, she pulled out the leather strapped bag.
“It’s a run pack.”
Journee handed the shopping bag to Asher and held up the run pack. She’d seen some of the others with them and was excited to have her own. “I’m not sure what you put in them, but thank you.” She put the strap over her head and noted that it rested halfway down her side.
“You’ll help her adjust it?” Rayne asked Asher. He nodded. “It’s for your phone and, at the very least, a shirt to put on if you need to shift back.” She motioned to the bag that Asher held.
Taking the bag back, she reached in and pulled out a phone like the one she’d most of the others with.
“My number and a few of the other women’s are in there.” Rayne nodded when she looked at her. “In case you need answers to any questions along the way.” She gave Asher and bright smile and then motioned to the bag again.
Journee looked at the phone again and quickly put it in the back pocket of her jeans before she cried. Pulling out the last item in the bag, she gave Rayne a quick look.
“A little makeup and things that every woman should have.” She frowned, “we don’t exactly stock makeup here, but there were a few of us with unopened packages, so we’re sharing.” She waved her hand, “a brush and some scrunchies,” she shrugged, “normal everyday things.”
Journee hugged it against her chest. “Thank you.” She shook her head, “I don’t know what I’ll do with makeup, but thank you so much.” She wiped her hand over her face, fighting the urge to cry. “I don’t…”
“You don’t need to say thank you, we wanted to start you off with some of your own things.” Rayne clasped her hands in front of her and stepped back. “Now, I hear breakfast is going to be a big send-off deal, so let’s go get seats close to the window.” She nodded to Asher and then turned and went toward the door.
Journee blew out a breath and looked down at the bag again. She turned around, set it carefully in the set, then took off the run pack and put it in. She looked at Asher. “Blaise gave me a knife, Amari gave me a handgun, and Wynter gave me a,” she glanced down, trying to remember, “taser?” she looked at him.
His eyes widened, “all of them are very useful if we run into trouble.” He cleared his throat. “Maybe we’ll go over handling and instructions along the way.”
Journee heaved out a sigh of relief. “Yes. Please. All of them make me nervous.” She looked inside once more before closing the door. “Riding in a car makes me nervous too.”
“I figured you probably haven’t been in one much.”
She shook her head. “A family gave me a ride once. The lady talked the entire time,” she smiled, “an older couple helped me get over a border. They thought I’d been mugged?” She waited for him to recognize the word, so she knew she had the right one, “and that someone had taken my identification.” She shrugged, “I don’t know how I would have gotten across it otherwise.” She sucked in a breath, “and a teen girl gave me a ride, but I was very nervous about riding in the snow, so that wasn’t for long.”
“We’ll take it one mile at a time. If it gets to be too much for you, we’ll stop.”
She nodded, feeling a bit better, but not at the same time. “Asher?”
He tilted his head and looked down at her.
“Tell me it’s going to be okay, that we’re going to find the island, and it’s going to work out.” She blew out a breath. “I feel like I’m being crushed by the weight of what everyone expects from me.”
“Hey,” he leaned down and looked at her, “I’m going to make sure it’s okay. Trust me.” He watched her until she nodded slightly, “no one expects anything from you.” He poked a finger in his chest, “I’m under pressure here, not you.” His eyes held hers with such an intense look that she couldn’t have looked away. “Okay?”
She bit her lip and nodded. “I just want to find it. So many are counting on finding it.”
He put his hand on her shoulder. “We’re going to find it.” He straightened and gave her a lopsided grin. “Even if we have to drive along every damn coastline on the planet until something looks familiar.”
She gave him a wide-eyed look. “It’s been a long time since I took geography, but I don’t think we have that much time.”
He shrugged. “The teams are going to have their hands full for a few weeks, we’ll find it before they have time to catch their breath.” Asher squeezed her shoulder, stepped back, and motioned to the door. “We should go get some food. This might be the last real cooked meal we get for a bit.”
Journee nodded. “I’m okay with wild kills.”
He snorted. “Me too, but in some areas, we won’t be able to shift and go hunting, so it’s fast food and takeout.”
Journee stopped and looked at him. “I don’t know what that is.”
She watched him inhale slowly. “Some of it is amazing, some not so much, but I guarantee you’ll have some sort of food addiction before we find the island.”
“Like Amari and gummy bears? Is that a food addiction?”
“Definitely. I think she lives off the things.”
“I didn’t like them all that much.”
He opened the door for her. “We’ll hit a few convenience stores and grab bunches of things for you to try.”
Journee hadn’t been in a store since she’d gone shopping with her mother all those years ago. She stopped and looked up at him. “Do they still have those candy dispenser machines?”
Asher grinned. “You can buy bags of those candies now.”
“They come in bags?” She started down the hall.
“Bags of everything.” He put his hand behind her and rested it lightly on her back. “You’re going to lose your mind on sugar rushes, trust me.”
She did trust him, and not just about candy. If they’d sent her off to find the island with anyone else, she wouldn’t have felt any confidence in finding it. With Asher, she felt like things were going to work out.